


An Old Dragon Still Has Fangs

by CantStopTheSignal



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Life-altering Disabilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26277814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CantStopTheSignal/pseuds/CantStopTheSignal
Summary: Sokka thought that it was Zuko who had caught up to them. He was wrong.  Iroh is about to show everyone why one does not mess with the Dragon of the West's child.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 105





	An Old Dragon Still Has Fangs

The tiny Fire Nation ship was still dogging them. No matter what Sokka tried, they couldn’t seem to shake their tail.

It all came to a head after three days and nights of the relentless chase. Appa couldn’t fly anymore without more than a few hours of sleep. 

Sokka and Katara angled themselves in front of the young avatar. No matter what, they would protect their friend. Sokka gripped his boomerang tightly and prepared himself for the coiled fury of the Fire Nation prince.

It shocked him when he saw that instead of the familiar teen, he saw the chubby old man that was always following Zuko around and a higher ranking officer. That was it. No teenage. No troops. Just two aging men.

Sokka glances over at Katara to judge her reaction. She was biting her lip but her stance was solid. He knew that she would do her best with her limited waterbending. 

Just as Sokka was preparing to throw his boomerang, the two men stopped. For the first time he could get a good look at his pursuers. Now that they were closer, he could see that the officer wore the uniform of a navy lieutenant. His tanned face was pulled down into a fierce scowl and his fingers twitched like there was nothing he would find more pleasing as to set all three of them on fire.

Sokka had always previously thought that the chubby man had seemed cheerful and unconcerned. He always looked like a man who was quick with a hug and was always willing to feed you. That was before. Now his usually upturned mouth was a slash across his face; his eyes were gimlets. The sleeves of the man’s robes covered his hands in a way that made Sokka wary.

“I will give you and your sister the chance to leave,” Chubby said.

Katara and Sokka shared a glance and scoffed. There was no way that they were leaving Aang. Besides, these were the hopeless companions of Zuko and Zuko had never really come close to capturing their group. Last time they were able to incapacitate the prince and escape with relative ease. These two would be no different.

  
  
  
\----   


Iroh walked slowly up the gangplank, his normally cheerful face stoic. On deck, the entire crew looked up and silently watched him walk past. Lieutenant Jee followed behind, wiping blood from the back of his head with a handkerchief. In his other hand he held a bag.

It had been a wonderful throw from Sokka’s boomerang. Unfortunately for Sokka, Lt. Jee had seen the same move performed on Zuko multiple times and unlike Zuko, Jee had managed to duck enough that the fatal blow had merely become a glancing blow. Not to say that it still hadn’t managed to draw blood. Normally, Sokka wouldn’t have even aimed for a killing blow, but at that time of the fight, he had been desperate.

The crew's eyes followed General Iroh until he disappeared below deck. Only then did Jee speak.

“It’s done. Let’s go home.”

He tossed the bag to the bosun. In the air, the bag opened slightly allowing some of the closer crew to see a roundish object with blue markings on it.

  
  
  
\---   


Below decks, Iroh took a calming breath before opening the door. The room beyond was dark, not that it mattered to its occupant and their attendant. The ship’s doctor looked up and upon seeing Iroh, he bowed respectfully and made to leave the room.

“Any changes?” asked Iroh. He did not expect a positive reply and he was not disappointed.

“No, no changes.”

With that, Iroh let the doctor leave.

Iroh walked slowly to the bedside and lowered his aching bones into the chair conveniently placed alongside. He let out a long sigh.

“You can finally go home, Prince Zuko. The crew has unanimously stated that they saw you valiantly battle the Avatar and his companions. They will swear to anyone who asks that it was you who dealt the final blow, however in his treachery, the Avatar threw one last cheap-shot that resulted in your injury.

“Your father will welcome you back as a hero publicly and as nobody will contest Azula as his heir, you will be allowed to live out the rest of your days in comfort and luxury. You will want for nothing.

“I had such high hopes for this Avatar. He was a pacifist monk. I thought that he would be the one to end this war without destroying the Fire Nation in the process. I never did tell you, but I was a part of a secret group trying to help the Avatar and bring balance.

“I burned down all bridges with them when they refused to help you. They told me that they would not help the son of the Fire Lord, which is just ridiculous considering I am his brother. They never saw the real you and your potential. Maybe the White Lotus will have better luck with a Water Tribe Avatar. I don’t care about the world anymore. Maybe if I had cared less about the war and more about you, this would never have happened.

“I’m sure if you were your normal self, you would be yelling at me and lighting things on fire. Normally I wouldn’t tell you all of this directly; I would try and guide you to the correct path through proverbs, but you always preferred me to be more direct.”

Iroh looked down at the body on the bed. Though Zuko was still breathing, the rest of his body laid perfectly still. His blind eyes stared uncomprehendingly at the ceiling. The doctor had told Iroh that the boomerang to the back of the skull had caused the blindness. The gale force wind knocking Zuko into the jagged edge of a rock had broken his back, paralyzing him. The lack of oxygen from his head being encased in water had caused the other brain damage, leaving him a virtual vegetable. Though Zuko’s body lived, his spark, his  _ essence _ , was gone.

Iroh sent up a useless wish that Zuko had taken back up that fateful day. As it was, Iroh was determined to spend the rest of either his life or Zuko’s life taking care of his nephew. The only thing more dangerous than a mother of a hurt child was a dragon with a hurt youngling. It didn’t matter that Iroh was old; he had shown everyone that the Dragon of the West still had fangs and he would either die or kill anyone else who threatened  _ his _ child. 

He wished that it hadn’t needed to come to this but he had no regrets for his actions today and he never would.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry. I apologize for everything. Yes, I implied that it is Aang's head Lt. Jee's bag. Sorry again. I leave Katara's and Sokka's fate up to your imagination. Did Iroh let them go? Did he injury them like they did Zuko? Did he kill them as well? Let me know what you think happened to them.
> 
> I realize this is pretty OOC for pretty much everybody, but I had this plot bunny that wasn't going away. Please let me know what you think.


End file.
